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J± N OEATION 



DELIA BRED on TH E 0( i ASIOS 01 



Inauguration of the Bust erected to the Memory 



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GEN. ANDKEW JACKSON. 



In the City of Memphis, January 8, 1859. 



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HON. A X D R E W E W I N G 

OF NASHVILLE. 



V u i I f s t) m t » request c f t li r Committee, 



NASHVILLE: 

... MAN & CO., PRINTERS, I'XIOX AX] 

18 5 9. 



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ORATION. 



Fellow-Citizens of Memphis: It affords me great pleasure 
in complying with your invitation to be present on this gala day 
I have long been desirous that the people of Nashville and Mem- 
phis should cultivate friendly feelings towards each other, and no 
more illustrious or ennobling occasion for their exercise could be 
presented, than the erection of a statue to our distinguished coun- 
tryman, Jackson, on the banks of this great "highway of States. 
Mr. Joel T. Parish, a liberal and patriotic stranger, lately domiciled 
here, thought he could not make to the home of his adoption a more 
acceptable donation than the marble bust, by a distinguished artist, 
of one of the foundersof your city, and the P I man of the 

age that is past. You have accepted the noble present, and on 
this anniversary of the great victory at New Orleans, it is pro- 
posed to install it on the site, where, wc fondly trust, it will long 
remain as the guardian genius of your beautiful city. 

There has always a; c I to me a peculiar fitness in the grand 
idea you are this day consummating. Memphis is unquesti mably 
the great centre of intercommunication for the valley of the Mis- 

sippi. This vast river, that ever rolls by you so deep and strong, 
is the main artery of the South and West, and it.bears annually 
on its bosom the products of the most fertile country of the world. 
You are now connecting by railroads with all sections of the 
Union cast of the Rocky Mountains; and when the locomotive 
shall travel on its path from the Pacific towards the Atlantic, it 
must debouch at this great central point of commerce and pro- 
duction. Whether, then, the travel be by land or water, on busi- 
ness or pleasure, by the thriving merchant, the I iisy artisan, the 
scientific explorer, the active farmer, or the poor ii ant wend- 

ing his way to the far "West, all, all, must pour in one ceasel - 
tide through the environs of your magnificent emporium. What 
place, then, more appropriate for installing s< me ato of the 

illustrious dead: s< ing that will cause th busy. 



throne: of life to pause for a moment and remember the Fioneer 
Chieftain of our State : a marble bust whose sight will recall the 
memories of the past — the wilderness and the Indian, the paint 
and the Mar-hoop — the musical names of Emuchfaw, Talladega, 
Enotochopco, with all the thick coming memories of Carroll, Coffee, 
Montgomery, Armstrong, and a hundred ether brave men, the 
primitive warriors of the land? No person -who has ever passed 
N >rth Bend in a steamer, seen the rush of passengers to the 
upper deck, the longing gaze fixed on the white palings that fence 
around the quiet, peaceful tomb of General Harrison, and then 
marked the sadness and softness visible on each face as the vessel 
moved slowly away, can ever misunderstand the solemn, chasten- 
ing effect of these reminders of our forefathers. They come as 
the swell of distant music at night, tearing us away from the pres- 
ent, and carrying us back to the shadow of vanished years and 
peoples. 

No man described in the pages of history has ever exerted 
magical an influence over a numerous, ^w,' and enlightened pop- 
ulation, as did the "Hero of the Hermitage." The character of 
General Washington is unquestionably more perf - life alto- 

gether a more harmonious whole, his earlier and later yea] - e in 
unison with each other, and his name more revered throughout the 
Union; but in his day and generation he never excited the enthu- 
siasm of friends, or struck the terror and admiration into foes, that 
was exhibited throughout the Ion:: public career of General 
son. and lasted even after his retirement to the Hermitage. / 
roused human feeli >just as one of your own huge 
lashe up the waves of the Missi : ; i, and Leaves it heaving and 

iming upon the shores long after the vessel hi iredintl 

distanc . 

Who that has reached the meridian of life can ever forget the 
fierce storms that clouch d our ] '■':'■ al horizon frcm 1824 to 1845; 
the waves of excitement that ran rolling and rushing through the 
States, as the billowy flame o'er the gras i t the prairies. It 
w almost like some wild dream. We can scarcely yet 
fully comprehend what it was that so convul i of allranksand 

conditions in life. But, in my opinion, ling elements in 

pr suchanup-h ; of the mas is, was the peculiar char- 

acter and attributes of General Jackson— the admiration of his 



friends, the hatred of his foes. From the moment lie appeared 
on the arena, his lofty plume was the "banner of his party," and 
the " attacking point" for his opponents. He was guarded by 
hosts of friends, ready to die in his defence: he was attacked 
by enemies who regarded nothing as achieved unless he was over- 
whelmed and defeated. Of course I would not be understood 
as meaning that personal feeling was all, or even the greater 
part of what was involved in the contest to which I have referred. 
No doubt great principles were debated and decided in the i 
then submitted to the people; but my reference is particularly 
to the stormy aspect given to the battle by the personal character- 
istics of the great champion of the Democracy. 

If Ave should live a thousand years, we will never again see the 
wand of any enchanter so exercised over this nation; not from 
the fact that such a leader may never arise in our midst, but be- 
cause our people are no longer homogeneous. They are no more 
linked together by an electrical chord, which, touched in Maine, 
would vibrate to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. When the 
war of 1812 commenced, the inhabitants of the Eastern and 
Southern Atlantic States were still united by relationship, feeling 
and interest. The troops who had fought and lived together dur- 
ing the weary days of the Revolution were, many of them, still 
alive, and felt for each other the warm attachment always gener- 
ated by the mutual privation, excitement and glory of a successful 
Avar. The citizens of the Middle and Western States were mostly 
immigrants from the shores of the Atlantic — they Avcrc a young 
community — men of warm and generous hearts, full of enterprise, 
all more or less connected with the homes they had recently aban- 
doned, and bound together by a common object in life, and a com- 
mon hostility to their Indian foes. The victories achieved by 
Southern troops in Alabama and at New Orleans Avere proudly 
estimated throughout the Union, and the names of Jackson, Car- 
roll and others, Avere fondly cherished on the banks of the < >iiio, 
the Kennebec, the Hudson and the Delaware. Hence it was, that 
when he Avas nominated for the Presidency, in 1821, there was 
scarcely a family in the country where his name was not familiar, 
and his services freely canvassed. The race he then ran Avas 
purely personal. CraAvford, Adams, Clay and himself were at 
that time members of tho Republican party. The war-cries of 



Blavery and and anti-slavery, union and disunion, abolition and 
a-nti-abolition, were then unknown. The religious associations 

:re still harmonious, and brethren everywhere recognizing each 
other as members of the same church. The Northern schoolmas- 
ter was warmly welcomed in the South, and the Southern orator 
heard with delight throughout New England. The fires that were 
kindled in one State could spread equally in all directions. 

It is unnecessary for me to recite the changes that have occurred 
since those halcyon days, or to show the reason why the services 
or character of no single individual can ever again he estimated 
as tliey were then, or his mere name become a watchword of con- 
test from the Aroostook to the placid waters of the Pacific. 
This fact will he taken as admitted, and the conclusion drawn 
that, whatever may be the fate of our Union, whether shattered 
into fragments or moving forward as a united empire, after ages 
will refer with peculiar pleasure to the period of his existence, 
and dwell upon it with delight, as the golden age of the Republic 
— the time of united action as a nation, even amidst a violent 
shock of opinions. I would fain hope that no deluge of barbarism 
will ever sweep over America, such as that which covered medei- 
val Europe, erasing the vestiges of the past, destroying our li- 
braries, removing the land-marks of our civilization, and leaving 
future ages partly dependent on our coins, our statuary, and 
our tumuli, for the knowledge of what we now are. It would seem 
that, humanly speaking, such a result was impossible; but so 
thought Thebes, Athens, and Home in the days of their glory, but 
they were swallowed up in the storm, and such may be our fate. 
If such a calamitv should ever overtake our continent, its civili- 
zation bo buried in ruins, and its history turned into song and 
tradition, yet when this darkness shall have passed away, and 
another rev ival of learning, progress and advancement commenced, 
the story of our primeval condition will again be eagerly sought, 
and form the bus-den of labor for generations to come. 

1 have concluded fellow-citizens, after some reflection that it 
would; ; bi properorint< esting l occasion like the present, 

to detain you for two or throe hours with a detailed hi of 

■ life of Gen. Jackson, and a .1. ' of his political measures. 

the province rather of the historian than the orator. 

Most of you too arc familiar with the leading events of his later 



life, ami some of you no doubl ho differ I from him in 

many of his political views and acts. He is now common property, 
death has severed party bands, and left us to feel and think of him 
only as an American, and as the first and greatest of the suns of 
Tennessee. It is most expedient therefore to pre tent you a sketch 
of his early life, point to you the leading features of his character, 
and illustrate them as far as possible by a recurrence to some of 
their most striking developments. 

lie was born under the burning sun of South Carolina, in the 
early part of the year 1707, and his parents were poor immigrants 
from "The Emerald Isle." From the lips of his mother, he 
eaidy heard recounted the sufferings of his grand-father, at the 
siege of Carrickfergus, and the unpardonable wrongs inflicted by 
the English, on the down trodden peasantry of his fatherland. 
The very lullaby that soothed his infant cry, was a wailing protest 
against lawless oppression and heartless tyranny. lie enlisted as 
a soldier in the war of the American Revolution, at the early ago 
of fourteen, and hastened to meet the proud invaders, who had 
crossed the ocean to renew their persecution of the fugitive exile 3 
from Ireland. He was soon taken prisoner, ordered by a British 
officer to clean his boots, and upon his refusal to perform this 
menial service, smitten with an unmanly blow that nearly ter- 
minated his existence. He rose from the Ground, burning with 
indignation and appealing proudly to the future for his redress 
against his insolent foe. 

When the struggle for our Independence had terminated, his 
little patrimony was exhausted, and in looking around for a pur- 
suit in life, he chose the profession of the law, and wended his 
way to North Carolina, where he spent a short period in endeavor- 
ing to qualify himself for the practice. The confinement of study, 
however, little suited his ardent temperament, and after a short 
novitiate he left his teacher and following the pathway of immi- 
gration, turned his face to the West, and slowly climbed to the 
top of the mountains, that separate us from the East. Could ;i 
prophet of old, lave stood by the side of the youthful adventur 
as he reached the summit of the Blue Ridge, what a ing 

vision would he have unfolded ! Stretched at their feet, lay the 
of We i Tennessee, reaching from the mountain to tl I res 
of "The Father of Waters.'' It was then clothed with unbroken 



forrest and matted cane, through which roved innumerable herds 
of wild animals, and tribes of wilder Indians. Its untold wealth 
of coal, iron and productive soil stood untouched and almost un- 
known; the field was ripe for the gleaner, and behold he had come 
young, lithe and spare, there he stood with the sickle in his hand. 
Now the seer would have said " Look yonder to the banks of the 
beautiful Cumberland, see where it sweeps suddenly to the West, 
there you shall pitch your tent, and upon the spot you will aid in 
founding the capital of a mighty State ! Look down upon the 
rolling waters of the Tennessee as they glide almost at our feet ; 
upon its banks, you will defeat and nearly exterminate these 
tribes of Indian warriors, now so fierce and bold ! From the 
shores of yon mightiest of rivers, will come up to you a wail of 
fear and distress ; with your brave associates in arms you will 
hasten to their relief, and on the plains of New Orleans, pay back 
the long delayed debt of vengeance you owe to the proud op- 
pressors of your native and fatherland. A great city will be res- 
cued from sack and desolation, your name will be magnified in the 
land ; you will be borne in triumph to Washington, and for eight 
vears preside over the councils of this widely extended Republic. 
You will return in eld age to the banks of the Cumberland, and 
there close your days in peace, amid the profound regret of my- 
riads of happy and prosperous people." Such might have been 
the prophecy addressed to him, but no such vision gladdened his 
eye, he was yet poor and friendless, and he would have years to 
struo-o-le before a name or position could be won. He traveled on 
to Nashville, finally concluded to locate there, and was soon ap- 
pointed Attorney General, in which office he served for several 
years, until the call for a Convention to draft a Constitution pre- 
paratory to our admission into the Union. 

We find him then a member of the Convention, it was a solemn 
occasion, the corner stone of an empire was to be laid, the pioneers 
were assembled and there was work to be done, there was no ap- 
petite for speaking, no place for abstractions. They had the con- 
stitutions of older States in their hands, and it was only necessary 
to follow the models, the labor was soon ended, the deed was done 
and Tennessee was ready for admission into the Union. T ent 

of Congress was soon afterwards given, and ided into the 

family of States, as gracefully as a frigate cuts the waves when 



9 

her stays arc thrown loose from the stocks. It were lon<? to tell 
of the happiness and prosperity we enjoyed under the shadow of 
that old Constitution. It has gone with its framera from its place 
amongst men, but its name is e\ en yet revered by a grateful people. 
He was subsequently a Representative, then a Senator in re- 
gress from this State, ami finally Judge of our Supreme Court. 
But these employments did not give vent to the consuming ardor 
and restless impatience of his disposition, he resigned them with 
joy, and when our horizon hecame clouded with the prospect of a 
war with Great Britain, he turned his attention exclusively to 
military affairs. Long previously elected a Major General of the 
militia, he was now appointed in the service of the United States, 
and it is at this point in his career, that he first fairly became a 
public man. He was now in the meridian of his life, in the vigor 
of his faculties and with all his powers fully developed, but not 
yet known, either to himself or to his generation. 
" : ho was a man. 



A soaring spirit, ever in the van ; 

A patriot, lien.) or d. <potic chief, 

To form a nation's glory, or its grief." 

How many such men of great and varied gifts, but strong passions 
have p ised through this world, wasting their lives in a bootle-s 
struggle after follies until they became blaze and retired from the 
arena, sick and disgusted with all they had seen and done. En- 
gines of immense power, but with no vessel in which to be employed. 
Such might have been the fate of General Jackson, at this period, 
if Providence had not opened up a wide field for his employment. 
The flood-gates were opened. The war with the Indians and the 
British suddenly broke out, and he stepped into the arena a cham- 
pion ready armed for the contest. It is for us who can look back 
at him, then by the light of his subsequent life to picture him as 
he was. I would that it were possible for me to daguerreotype 
him to you, as he has often appeared to me, when musing over his 
meteoric and eventful career; he has then loomed out so larae, so 
life-like, and distinct, that it has almost seemed possible to seize 
the shadow from the wall. 

He was born a soldier, had the strong perceptive powers which 
have characterized most of the famous captains of ancient and 
modern times, the eagle eye that seized at .a glance all the advan- 
tages of a movement or a position, and the firm soul that was 



10 

never troubled with doubt or indecision on a dav of battle. Whilst 
his army was in motion be was con tantly examining tbe ground 
over which they marched, seeing where a stand could be made if 
retreat became a try, or a favorable position for a struggle if 

be cho3e to entice his enemy to an attack. There is a remarkable 
instance of this forecast exhibited in bis report to Gen. Pinckncy, 
of the second battle at Enotocbopeo : be says, "that a few days 
previous to tbe engagement be had carefully examined the spot, 
where the battle was fought, expected to be attacked there, and 
made all his dispositions with a view to that result." Neither the 
war-whoop of the Indians, or tbe fires of their rifles could disturb 
his judgment en this most hazardous day of his life. When his 
rear guard broke and fled, leavi his front uncovered and his cannon 
almost in the grasp of the savages, although his sword arm was 
broken, he faced about with his • ies and guard, rallied the fugi- 
tives, and shoulder to shoulder with Carroll, Armstrong and others, 
bore back the ru hing hordes of Indians, and finally turned them 
to flight. It has been sometimes alleged that he was indebted to 
Livingston and others for his admirable arrangements at tbe battle 
of New Orleans, but the malice of the suggestion is only equalled 
by its untruth. That he availed himself of the information and 
suggestion of tbe many able men with whom he was surrounded, 
only evinces his talent for command, but that he ever followed the 
guidance of any other person on so memorable an occasion is con- 
tradictory of his own nature, and disproved by those v. ho were 
best informed at the time. It is said that when he heard the first 
cannon ball from the British batteries whistle by him, he bowel 
his head smilingly and remarked, "that he could not pay less 
courtesy to the first nee- • sent him by the conquerors of 

Euro This was the spirit of the man, he snuffed the battle 

the breath of bis life, an 1 his in, II ; iii I i of Massena, 
soared ir and higher as it thickened around him. He could, 

in a moment of fainting and despondency on the part of his trooj . 
infuse into them new vigor, arouse sleeping energies that had 
r befon een called into action, end brace them to sustain a 
charge that would otherwise have beei e. Volunteers 

and mi itin many of whom had ne> •■ ' m under fire were bis 
s in all his enga hose immediately under 

lii • own eye nevt r fit 7. The angry countenance of their General 



11 

was more terrible than ll onets of tlic enemy. In tlio crisis 

of a campaign, his eye never slept, : . ■-< • med incapable of exhaustion. 
During all the stirring contests around the citv of New Orleans. 
his body and mind were constantly in action, on foot and on horse- 
back, among3t the troops or in his tent, he seemed incapable of 
fatigue and almost omnipresent. 

lii.- courage is universally admitted, but its particular asr 
pect and development is "worthy of remark; he did not possess 
the steady nerve and never failing presence of mind of his illus- 
trious compeer, General Carroll, his nature was fiery and impet- 
uous, and his courage was of the same ardent character. His 
look on a day of battle was terrible. When he rose on his stirrups, 
drew his sword and gave the signal for a charge, the foam licv, 
from hi- lips, and his -whole face was one concentric flash of elcc- 
tricitv. Electrical it must have been, for it communicated courage 
to men who had little training or discipline as soldiers, and who 
had to meet the fearful war-whoop of Indians, and the steady 
s of British regulars. Perhaps, however, the best test of his 
true nerve was exhibited when in collision with his own mutinous 
soldiery. The scene at Ten Islands between him and the brigade 
of Tennessee volunteers, was one of the most heroic and affectin^ 
that is presented in military annals. 

They claimed that their term of service was about to expire, and 
that they would return home and disband. He strongly urged that 
they were enlisted for a longer period of actual service, and that their 
retreat would ruin the campaign. He appealed to their oaths, their 
honor, and that of the State which would be sacrificed by their 
d rtion. His eloquent appeal was in vain. Host from the pri- 
vations of war, thoughts of home and pride of opinion, proved 
jjhtier than all the reasoning or persuasion of their General. 

It was then when all other means of restraining them had failed, 
that taking counsel from his own high view of patriotism, and 
duty to the country, he determined to risk his own life rather than 
submit to the demands of his mutinous soldiery, and thus addressed 
them: '*I cannot, must not believe that the volunteers of 
Tennessee, a name ever dear to fame, will disgrace themselves, 
and a country they have honored, by abandoning her standard as 
mutineers and deserters; but should I be disappointed and com- 
pelled to abandon this pleasing hope, one thing I will not resign, 



12 

4 
my duty. Mutiny and sedition, so long as I have the power of 
quelling them, shall be put down ; and even when left destitute of 
this. I will still be found in the last extremity, endeavoring to 
discharge the duty I owe to my country and myself." 

The day claimed for discharge was the 10th of December, and 
the morning of the 9th broke dark and threatening, the men stood 
in groups, arguing and asserting their rights. The officers were 
nerving themselves for the struggle. Before sun-set, it was hurriedly 
communicated to the General, that these troops were in open 
rebellion, and ready to decamp. He immediately announced the 
fact to his other troops by general order, posted his artillery in 
their front, ordered Col. Wynne's militia to seize the eminences 
beyond them, and then mounted his horse and rode up and down 
their line. He addressed them in lofty and impassioned strains of 
eloquence, conjuring them even yet to desist, and freely exposing 
his person to their fire. They hesitated, but stood their ground. 
He then closed with these memorable words, " I have done with 
entreaty, it has been used long enough. I will attempt it no more. 
You must now determine whether you will go or stay, if you still 
persist in your determination to move forcibly off, the point be- 
tween us shall soon be decided." The lines wavered but did not 
retire, he raised himself to his full height, ordered the artillerists 
to prepare their matches, and braced himself for the shock ; but 
the contest was over, shame and admiration had done its work, 
the word "return" passed rapidly down the line, their arms were 
brought to their shoulders, they were soldiers again, and the mutiny 
was at an end. 

It may be thought on superficial examination that this exhibi- 
tion was one of rashness on the part of the General, that he might 
have brought his troops into collision, made the waters of the 
Tennessee run red with the blood of his own soldiers, and have 
irreparably broken up his army ; not so however did he think and 
his judgment was right. He knew that the Indians were divided 
as to the policy of the war, and were arrayed against each other. 
If he was compelled to retreat, the "peace party" would be over- 
whelmed, and the whole nation at once precipitated on the settle- 
ments. "We were contending too almost for existence with the 
greatest power of the earth, it might, and did soon become neces- 
sary for us to measure arms with the British legions. If mutiny 



13 

and sedition could nol be prevented, then discipline and courage 
were im >ossible, and our defeat rendered certain, lie had more- 
over a higl) and undying reliance on his own mighty powers, he 
knew his soldiers thoroughly, and his success proved the extent of 
his sagacity. From that day forward he was the idol of his 
troops, they believed him irresistible and lie was prepared for 
any coming fight. 

His truth and earnestness was an admirable gem in his constel- 
lation of qu ilities, and it shone clear and distinct in all his devel- 
opments, lie never wilfully deceived any person, or lured him 
on to his support by fraud or deception; he scorned any success 
that wasachieved without the fullest and clearest exposition of his 
\ iews an 1 intentions. There was no faltering or phrases of doubt- 
ful meaning in Ins addresses to Congress or the people, he cut 
clear through whatever he touched, leaving a wall on either side, 
so that he who could read might understand ; his public documen a 

rried with them their own interpretation, lie always found the 
masses of the people willing to hear the truth, and however unwel- 
come it might be, what be believed, he said to them. When told 
by some of his timid supporters that the removal of the deposits 

m the United States Hank and the issuance of his specie circular, 
\. tuld break all men who traded on borrowed capital, he sternly re- 
plied '• that they ought to break," and there left it. When informed 
in 1837 that the merchants in ISew Orleans were beginning to 
suspend, and thai ;; storm would soon sweep over the commercial 
cities, "Let it come," said he, "they will never owe less until they 
learn by suffi ' :." These were bitter truths, and to the sufferers 
secured like the injection of the probe by the same hand that bad 
i licted the wound, but their utterance was not dictated by any 
want of sympathy or kindn< ss to the distressed, it was a necessity 
of bis nature. What his mind fully believed his tongue must 
speak, he would have regarded silence, or commiseration as an 
untruth to the convictions of his own judgment. 

lie was fiercely pressed whilst at Washington, by crowds of 
hungry expectants on his bounty, he was often decieved or be- 
trayed by them, but never awed or threatened. What be bad, he 

ittered with a liberal band, and when it was expended be bad the 
courage to say that the feast was over ana the balance must di 
perse. 



14 

His keenest affliction in life was to find himself deserted, or be- 
trayed 1>} T one on whom he had relied; his own friendship was so 
strong, his devotion so limitless, that he regarded desertion as the 
most unpardonable of crimes. He had identified himself so 
strong!}' with the interests of the country, and his faith in his oath 
rectitude of intention and action, was so unlimited that he could 
not recognise the idea of personal friendship as dissevered from 
political support. "When men abandoned his party, they were 
untrue to the best interests of the Union, thev had seen the light 
and loved darkness better. He divorced them from his friendship, 
once and forever, he could not be reconciled, for his faith in their 
patriotism was extinguished. 

His earnestness of purpose was visible in his countenance; it 
did not evince unhappiness or restlessness, but that state of con- 
stant emotion and action shewn on the surface of the ocean, when 
a volcano is at work beneath. Even when in repose, and the 
smoke of his pipe curling around his lofty head, there was no 
abatement in the working of his muscles, no saddening or soften- 
ing of the outlook of his soul. His face constantly reminded me 
of one of those old sphynexs or statues of the demi-gods of an- 
tiquity, so massive, so grand, and as if the responsibility of em- 
pires ever weighed upon their souls. 

If there was any quality of his mind which overshadowed the 
rest, it was his chivalry, a high admiration and respect for woman, 
a lofty disdain of meanness, and a warm sympathy for those who 
were weak and oppressed. This characteristic is most generally 
found in the scion of a youthful community, whose population is 
sparse, people mostly agricultural, and refinement not far ad- 
vanced. I may remark in passing, that it is even yet more fre- 
quently exhibited amongst Southern people than it is amidst the 

oser masses of the North and Mast. With him the feeling was 
predominant, and assumed, as in the greatest men of the earth, 
ethina of the sublime and heroic, although in his earlier years 
wild, reckless, and almost dissolute, he was never accused of licen- 
tiousness, rudeness or indecorum to the gentler sex: he was never 
ruled or controlled by woman in his public life, as so many great 
men have been, yet he was always gentle, kind and tender. lie 
ivas nol much mov< d with the romance of love, hut never failed in 
the instinctive respect of a Paladin for the honor of the sex. His 



15 

kindness to captive enemies, and to the sick ami wounded of his 
own troops, was proverbial, and often exhibited in times of g 

■nt or bitter personal suffering. Ir is well known 
to those familial- with the history of the times, that after the bloody 
and overwhelming defeat of the Creeks at Emuchfau, he could 
almost have exterminated their nation, and made their lands o] i 
to emigration and settlement, but he listened t i their terms f 
peace, sheathed his sword, and left the broken tribe again to re- 
turn to their homes. After the decisive battle of the 8th of Jan- 
uary, he was fully sensible of the weak and unprotected condition 
of the remains of the British army. lie might have captured 
their wounded, seized their camp stores, and defeated the dispirited 
remnant of their forces; but in tenderness to his own troops, and 
horror of producing unnecessary slaughter, he steadily declined 
this ■ ■ struggl '. 

Amidst all the accusations hurled against him in his day of 
power, he was never charged with deserting a friend to his ene- 

-. trampling on a prostrate foe, or meanness in avoiding rc- 

►nsibility for his own conduct. His lofty chivalry rescued him 
from al h imputations. Indeed, the accusation generally made, 

1 sometimes justly, was, that he fell into the opposite extreme, 
was too bold and open, and by his kindness to seeming friends, 
was often made the victim of treacherous and designing men. We 
often see in the physical world parasites clinging to the loftiest 
trees, and covering the colonades of magnificent temples, and so 
it is in the world of mankind. We may be harmless as doves, but 
to he as wise as serpents is often beyond the power of earth's m >st 
gifted children. 

His lofty courtesy, grace and ease of manners, polished and 
elegant address were most remarkable, when we reflect on the lim- 
ited opportunities of his early life, and the community in which 
he was raise 1 and trained. It excited the wrapt attention of stran- 
gers, and made him in public ik the observed of all observers." 
lie never | ass • 1 through a city on a day of festivity without fixing 
all eyes and ravishing all hearts with his grand and h>IV 
and it has not been politic since his day for any ren iier 

or -man to mike a triumphal passage through Tennessee. 

Our standard of appearance and demeanor is bo high that no 
person can reach to our Expectations, and we feel disappointed at 



16 

the show. I remember well being told by one of bis early com- 
rades, that at a dinner given to bim and President Monroe soon 
after the close of tbe "war, eitber at Frankfort or Lexington, 
Kentucky, when tbe clotb -was removed and tbe toasts about to be 
drank, as was customary at that time, tbe guests retired from tbe 
table. Mr. Monroe rose first, bowed slightly to bis entertainers, 
and passed down the table in an easy, shuffling gait, without at- 
tracting much attention. General Jackson, clotbed in bis regi- 
mentals, with bis sword by bis side, rose to bis full height, lifted 
bis hat lightly, and walked out with his erect bearing and military 
step, leaving tbe company electrified by the manner of his depart- 
ure, and wondering in silent amaze at the effect produced on them 
by tbe lofty tread of this "backwoodsman of Tennessee." His 
polish and high bearing was purely instinctive, not the result of 
art, but tbe attribute of bis chivalry and courage; he felt that he 
bad no master on earth, no human being of whom be was afraid, 
and tbe lion-like feeling was written on his brow and interwoven 
into his physical organization. He never met an equal in private 
fight or general battle, and come what might, he feared no evil; 
his inarch, therefore, through creation was free and lofty. Ther< 
was a vast difference in tbe appearance of Mr. Webster and him- 
self, and the feeling produced on the beholder was equally marked' 
At the first sight of General Jackson tbe spectator was charmed 
and carried away with rapture; he never could sufficiently admire 
the loftiness of his crest and tbe grace of bis carriage; he rejoiced 
that nature bad been so prodigal of her gifts to one of his own 
species — the feeling was one of gladness and enthusiasm. Not so, 
however, with Mr. Webster; he, too, was a man of regal port and 
gigantic proportions, but he resembled some tremendous structure 
of architectural skill, whose proportions are so just that you do 
not estimate tbe size and magnificence of tbe work until you gaze 
long and wondermgly at the details of the building. Tbe idea of 
its grandeur then first dawns upon you, and perhaps impresses you 
more profoundly than if seized at the first view. After your 
attention was once firmly fixed on Mr. Webster, it seemed the 
longer you gazed the deeper and more entranced your admira- 
tion. You could not withdraw your attention from that well-knit 
frame, out-spread brow, deep-set eyes and lofty, settled repose on 
his countenance that is tbe true emblem of intellectual power. To 



17 

contrast the two in one sentence, T may say that one wj - 
ho&imei 'on, the othef of thought. 

The warm and ardent patriotism of Genera] Jackson was an 
striking attribute of his c . the legitimal 

wa irected in early life to the and pro 

the interests of his native land. There h ag 

who have felt an equal at t a it to their country, and 

their ! service. Th id from duty and th< 

of their judgment; but no public man in our da; 
su< and limitless devotion to public inten 

did. As I have intimated before, he so mingled up his oa\ i 
fare and that of his country as almost to lose the idea of in 
uality. He often felt, like Louis Le Grand, that he was I 
Up to the moment of his death, his spirit went out in con 
travail for its interests. He could talk or think of little 
when worn down with age and disea oice husky with i 

and hi bony fingers bloodless and transparent,] 

superior to disease, and still dwelt with the deepest solicitude i I 
future of this great Republic. 

It was not any particular State or section of our Confe I 
to which he was so deeply attached. No doubt he felt p 
anxious for Tennessee, but it was as part of the Union 
of her fate. His memorable toast, "The Federal Union — it mi 
be pre '." y gave utterance to the predominant feeli 

his heart, i die labors wei 

of the General Government, and he died in the full e 
that no in mi- folly could rend asunder the bon 

us togeth ■iltcrhood of States. This feeling, in 

fistic of most all the great state 
pas eneneed life before or during the 

the Revolution. They heard with rapture in their ea] 
the gs of that struggle for Independ 

battlefields were ^ i 111 white with th es of those who had .' 

Th./ troops of every State had fought side by side with e; 

QOn glo ined under the ,,i 

the Confed . No wonder, therefore, that these men c 

. a divided all \ • — that they could never ki ut 

one country, one liag. "The Union one and indivi 
o 



18 

motto through life, and the only bow of hope that spanned the 
horizon of the future. 

In regard to his qualifications as a statesman, there is even yet 
a wide difference of opinion entertained by the people of these 
United States. The ashes have not sufficiently gathered over the 
fires through which we passed for any calm judgment of mankind 
yet to lie expressed. Posterity must perform that work. My own 
views on this subject have been often expressed, and they are still 
the convictions of my judgment, but it is not my intention to press 
them upon you for approval. There are, however, some develop- 
ments of character during his Presidential career, so strongly il- 
lustrative of his traits of mind, that it would be injustice to omit 
them in general portraiture. When he entered upon the duties of 
his great office, he found our Foreign Department embarrassed by 
tedious negotiations with many of the powers of Europe; they 
^\ ere for the settlement of claims due to our citizens for spoliations 
committed during the wars growing out of the French Revolution. 
The adjustment of these claims had been delayed from time to 
time until relief seemed hopeless ; and even when their justice and 
ount were fully ascertained, payment was still deferred. It be- 
ne absolutely necessary, then, for us either to show we were in 
earnest, or abandon the negotiations. This was a crisis well suited 
to the decision of the President ; he never hesitated a moment 
as to the course to be pursued. Singling out France as the most 
powerful and most derilict of those kingly debtors, he cut 
through all the forms of diplomacy, announced to Louis Phillipe 
t the debt must be paid, called the attention of Congress to the 
ending difficulty, and stood prepared to rouse the people of the 
I lion to the conflict, if his warning was disregarded. The re- 
sult proved the value of his soldier diplomacy, and showed the 
imate in which he was held by foreign powers. France paid 
monev, and this exhibition soon led to the adjustment of other 
reclamations, that would have been lost but for his timely exhi- 
bition of courage and earnestness. 

The veto of the charter of the Bank of the United States, and 

• • removal of the public deposits to State institutions, was another 

nal instance of high moral courage. Whether it was right or 

is not now the question; but he believed it to be right, and so 

loving, scattered doubts to the winds, took the whole responsi- 



19 

bility on his own shoulders, and stood almost alone in the In-each. 
I lis friends wore thunderstruck, and many of them doubting wheth- 
er to take the leap he had thus made. Just as Achilles, afterthe 
death of Patrochus, whilst still unarmed, merely by the terror of 
his shout, drove back the triumphant Trojans and rallied the 
routed Greeks, so he, almost alone on the platform, checked the 
embattled hosts of his foes, and gave new courage to the serried 
ranks of his friends. 

It is easy to find a man who is brave in battle; thousands will 
rush up to the cannon's mouth; but it is the last and highest test 
of fortitude to stand for the right when the multitude seem about 
to desert you. Then, and then only, is the nerve of the true man 
fully tested. He passes through fires that separate the dross from 
the gold, and comes out of the furnace with the impress of im- 
mortality stamped on his brow. 

The conduct of the President in the celebrated imbroglio with 
South Carolina developed a high degree of deliberate judgment 
and steady firmness, evinced, too, under the most delicate and 
painful circumstances. He was a native of that State, and he felt 
that she was oppressed by the unequal working of the tariff. He 
knew that many of his early friends were enlisted in her support 
and that all the Southern States warmly sympathised with her 
oppression. Yet when the day of trial came, and she would not 
agree to obey the laws of the Union, no claims of friendship or 
support could withhold him from the performance of his duty. 
Kindly but firmly he gathered the reins of power in his hands, 
and was ready when admonition failed, to have used the strongest 
means in his power to compel obedience. Fortunately for us all 
it never became necessary to use force. A new adjustment of the 
tariff, so often recommended by the President, was adopted by 
Congress, and the storm passed away. But his high moral atti- 
tude on this occasion can never be forgotten; rising superior to all, 
the claims of nativity, friendship and sectional feeling, he stood 
forth as the representative of the whole people, the very incarna- 
tion of Law and Order. 

The memorable proclamation issued by him during the contest 
with South Carolina, forms a curious episode in bis history, and 
involves the question of his fealty to the principles of his pan y. 
This State paper, whether considered in reference to its ability, 



20 

the position of its author, or its effect on the people, has no paral- 
lel in our annals. As the leader of the Democratic party, he 
had originally attracted to his support all the leading statesmen of 
the school of strict constructionists, who formed what was then 
known as the Republican party. lie had been home into pov. 
partly on their strength, and so long as the war was carried on 

i hist Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, they upheld him with all thi 
power. Even the personal difficulty between him and M 

Ihoun, Berrien, Branch and Ingham, did not alienate from him 
this powerful phalanx. They looked on with silent foreboding 
during the contest with South Carolina, hut did not leave their 

ndards. When the proclamation came, however, the whole 

me was changed ; it fell like a bombshell at their feet; it was 
written with admirable ability, and its lucid order, clear distinc- 
tions and logical deductions, would alone have made it dangerous 
to the doctrine of ultra States Rights. But, supported as it was 
with the name and popularity of General Jackson, it seemed as 
if the Resolutions of "08," with all the interpretations plac 
on them by the Fathers, would be swept down at one fell blow. 
The reaction was tremendous. The leaders of this school rallied 
throughout the entire South, and the shrewdest intellects exhausted 
their powers of argument and logic to repair the breach that 
had almost cut through the walls of their temple. Their efforts 
were for the time unavailing. The President rode shear over their 
bulwarks and stood triumphant, without their aid and despite their 
opposition; but they saved their consistency, forged new defen 
for their faith, and were thus enabled to rally in force when this 
storm had passed away. 1 do not refer to this great schism either 
to attack or defend the propositions maintained in the proclama- 
tion; whatever may be the truth or fallacy of the reasoning em- 

oyed, its vast force and power is undeniable, and the resist; 
Qgth and energy momentarily exerted through it by the popu- 
larity of its author, were universally felt and acknowledged. 

It is proper for me further to say, that he has been unju 

used in this matter, of abandoning previous opinions, or betra; 
ing the great trust confided to his hands. He had never commit* 
If to the maintainance of the principles of these resolutions 

construed and expounded by the disciples of that school. Mr. 
Madison, Mr. Rives, Mr. Grundy, and many hundred others of the 



21 

elite of the old Republican party, did not assent to the interpr - 
tation then sought to ;d as the Shiboleth of tl y. 

When ; >'<-t on the long ' General Jackson as a 

soldier — his ideas of obedie] authority of the General 

srernment — his firm belief that a majority of the people would 
:\\w hi — hiaincapa ion — his utter contempt 

for metaphysical subtleties and his devotion to the Union, it is hardly 
possible to conceive that he had ever adopted the ultra of 

those peculiarly known as the States Rights men. He fully un- 
»d the right of revolution — the resistance of an oppri — d 
people when all other means of deliverance from tyranny had 
tied. He learned these views from the lips of his mother, and 
they were felt and acted upon in the war of the Revolution. But 
it is hardly possible that he ever balanced in his mind how one 
State could, without armed resistance, negative an act of Con- 
gress, paralyze the arm of the Federal Government, and still move 
on in the sphere of the Union. He did not suppose that the Federal 
C institution contained any such germ of weakness in 1 ni- 

zation, or that it ever could accomplish the objects of its creation. 
if so construed. He was, however, a Republican of the tru 
faith, lie was thoroughly impressed with the danger of strength- 
ening the arm of the Federal Government and increasing the 
central en . He knew the danger of liberal const. of 

the powers granted in the Constitution, and the of 

guarding the - of the States. This appreciation is clearly 

developed in all his messages to Congress, and the leading]). 
sures of his Administration. He sternly lopped off the immer 
influence and power given to the Executive by the connection with 
the Bank of the United States ; he earnestly desired and finally 
procured a reduction of the tariff to a revenue standard ; h i 
steadily opposed making the General Government a builder of 
harbors or an improver of rivers, unless for military or naval us 
andhe would never consent that money collected by thi 
Authority I be distributed amongst the Stat 

and conduct speak trumpet-tongued his devotion I of 

the States, his strict construction of the powers granted in tl 
1 ostitution, and his full membership in the Republican Par 

The 4th of March, 1837, closed ': : - public 3ervice, he reti 
with dignity to the Hermitage, to prepare for that final chai 



22 

which he felt was approaching. The day of his return was to me 
one of the most memorable of my existence. His old friends and 
companions determined to give him a public reception: they met 
together, appointed one of their number to deliver an address, 
and started to meet him. The young men and boys of our City 
following their example, made their arrangements and appointed 
me as their spokesman. We met him in the cedars near Lebanon. 
The old men were ranged in front, the boys in the rear. He got 
out of his carriage, listened courteously to the address of Judge 
Campbell, replied happily, and shook hands with his old associates- 
He then drew near to us. I stepped forward, spoke a few words of 
kindness, and wound up by saying, "That the children of his old sol- 
diers and friends welcomed him home, and were ready to serve under 
his banner." His frame shook, he bowed down his head and whilst 
the tears rolled down his aged cheeks, he replied, "I could have 
stood all but this, it is too much, too much !" The crowd gathered 
around, and for a few moments there was a general outburst of 
sympathy and tears. 

"The sterner spirits that beheld that meeting 

Were not unmoved! Who are when hearts are greeting '. ; ' : 

I may live a hundred years, but no future can erase that scene from 
my memory. It grows greener and greener with advancing years, 
and will be faithfully treasured to the last. 

More than eight years rolled away after his retirement from 
public service before he was summoned to depart. During the 
whole period, although taking no active part in politics, he was 
still regarded as the Nestor of his party, giving it the vital ener^ 
of his name, and his counsel in every emergency of danger. V\ hen 
his sands of life ran out, he met death with the calmness of one 
who felt that he had enough of life ; his work was done and the 
victory secure. He sank as sinks the evening sun when the day 
is over, leaving a flush of crimson still illumining the horizon from 
which it has | I. So soon ashis death was announced, it pro- 

duced a feeling of sadne>s and depression throughout the I mon. 
His faults were forgotten in the recollection of his long and faithful 
ss in the cause of human freedom. Men everywhere felt 
that a great light was extinguished and that his loss was a national 
calamity. It is difficult to sum up. in conclusion, without danger of 



28 

repetition, yet the picture would be incomplete without a few more 
touches. 

He was aotperfect, and I am not sure but what this fact ad< 
to his popularity. However much we idealize perfection in our 
writings, it dors not ensure an entrance into the popular heart, as 
witness the long list of prophets and martyrs, whose purity of 
lives could not save them from chains, imprisonment and death. 
Men love inequalities of character in their idols, as the eye does 
the alternation of hill and dale in the landscape, lie was proud, 
irascible and at times overbearing. If he had been horn in the 
purple he would have been a despot. Before he cami 
responsibilities to the world, his temper would ha u ruined. 

and probably in old age he would have been a ruthless and inex- 
orable tyrant. Fortunately he lived and acted in a land of fri - 
dom. where he always encountered a steady and continuous oppo- 
sition, that attempered him to the standard most useful to himself 
and to mankind. He A\as, however unquestionably a great and in 
ma - good man. He did not belong to that class of 

great men who in their closer-, and when almost unknown to their 
neighbors, have by their discoveries, or invention- changed the 
labor of mankind, and seizing upon the fulcrum which Archimedes 
wished for, moved the world in their balance. Nor could he, like 
Cia.v and Webster, charm admiring multitudes by his eloquence. 
or persuasion. His great powers lay essentially in council and 
action : his intuitive perception of what was right, and the courage 
and energy with which he executed what was ne< to be 

done. 11 r read many books, and perhaps it was fortunate 

for him that he did not : they might have enlarged the area of I 
vision, but would have disturb.',! the force of his convictions, and 
palsied the rapidity of hi- in. He could never have borne 

the confinement and drudgery of labored investigation, and suj 
ficial reading would have done him no good. Men and OH 
nature the obj " his thought, and his ye 

- emed to reach their most secret arena, lie never made a mis- 
take in the selection of a military position, or in his frequent ap- 

ds to popular judgment for his support. His 
trembled at the seeming rashness of the bold position he assum 
and the fearless hardihood with which he accepted the groui I, 
chosen for him by his adversari c failed in finally 



24 

iving them off the field and camping on the place thej had 
ed for his defeat. Friends fell off from him bys 'luring 

long public career, but they fell like branches from the tr< 

ly to wither and perish themselves, but not to weaken the parent 
stem. For years after he retired from public life the onward im- 
pulse of his action was deeply felt, and he was appealed to at 
the Hermit;, if he was still the tenant of the "White House. 

■ been facetiously remarked since his death that in many of 

■ rural districts of Pennsylvania, they still suppose when casting 
Democratic votes that they are sustaining him. The tis 

a mere jest, but it has its significance. It evinces that his name 
like that of Richard Cceur de Leon, is potent after death on the 
field where he displayed his resistless prowes . 

Men have frequently I that hi not the author of the 

public documents that were issued under his name whilst acting as 

esident. So far as the mere style, or dress in which they ap- 
1 is concerned, thisn e. His limited attainments and 

impatience of composition would induce the belief that the flowing 
sentences, and logical reasoning which characterized most of these 
productions were not the emenations of his mind. But that he 
drafted their outlines, or dictated their substance is unquestionable. 
They bear the flesh marks of his action, the impress of I 
< . \ lucid and strong in their statements. Bold, truthful and 
1 snunciatary in their langua^ y leave no doubt as to 

their meaning and no escape from responsibility if they were un- 
true. They are Jacksonian all over, and if written b; her 
he must have so studied his great original as to have lost hi 
itity in transferring the picture on the cam 

I have said he was proud, but his pride was n<, t offensive, 
no touch of superciliou . It was the legitimate of 

conscious powers and innate dignity. lie could permit no rude 
familiarity, and in later life he had no taste for jests: his pride 
was his ban*] tinst these an: ie intrusions. li< 

terly devoid of vanity, and all that litt soul that waits 

with longing appetite for the applause oi' o When his own 

• ' approved what he had said or done, it i . a; he 

did not wail to hear the echo of others. 

It was strange how much he was often alone amid the crowds 
by whom he was surrounded; this was shown by the frequent 



changes of h and disconnected ol ions that 

now and then crossed the vein of his conversation. This may 
have been partly a habit contracted t< y on the thread of 

his thoughts, and give him opportunity for meditation when 
thronged with visitors, but it was mainly resultant from the pitcn 
of his mental powers — its ceaseless activity and the number of 
octaves rolled one on another in its adjustment, H made him ever 
and anon touch chords in his bosom that sounded far above away 
a the dull hum of the multitudes around. lie had no me- 
thodical or logical sequences in his conversation; it consisted of 
short, pungent, observations asserted with vehemence, hut never 
spun out with lines of reasoning or data on which they were 
founded. No doubt the mental action by which he deduced con- 
clusions was clear, hut the process was too rapid for word 
We often suppose that assertions made or judgments expressed 
without being aide to give the ratiocination By which they are 
ported ar< I and unreliable; but this is a wide mistake. 

With our limited means of investigation and observation we 
scarcely ever gather all and sometimes not the most material fac 
necessary for our judgment, and the fairest outward forms are 
often hollow and unsubstantial — the beauty of the language ;. 
the nice adjustment of the mechanism obscures the weakness of 
the product. Men of strong perception and intuitive sagacity 
cannot thus weave the web that dazzles the understanding — the 
flash of their minds are too rapid to mark out their pathway; hut 
th ■' <■ result is unique and reliable. 

lie never dreamed that any man could confer honer on him 
visit or approbation. "When a distinguished stranger visited 
him he made no atttempt at display; it was utterly indifferent to 
him whether his guest was profoundly impressed with his beari 
or conversation. If he had been politely treated, this was all his 
:ared to ascertain. lie never exacted from those beneath 
him any tribute to »n, and he would talk I 

hour with the poorest of his old comrades. 

His neighbors and associate- felt that he was a man whose path it 
wa ..•rou.- to cross, and whose enmity it was well to avoid ; but 

his house and presence were as free and open to all visitors as if 
it belonged to the people and he was its keeper. Hence it v, 
although proud and verbeai I'd- 



26 

ed as an aristocrat; he was the "People's Man," and the soubri- 
quet of "Old Hickory" by which he is known throughout the 
world was fondly given by the admiring masses of his countrymen. 

The impress of genius such as his is not transferred into looks, 
not painted on canvass or modelled into living forms, must be to 
some extent ephemeral. It is written mainly on the hearts of 
contemporaries, and as they pass away the records are lost ; but 
the shadow is long on the wall — the mist that gathers over his 
story will give it the charm of romance. Coming ages of Ameri- 
cans will investigate, with curious interest, the eventful history 
of the Hero of New Orleans. Every scrap of anecdote and tra- 
dition will be woven together, to complete his picture. His en- 
counters with the then long perished tribes of Indians will be 
magnified and adorned, their paint and their war-hoop will be 
fancifully described, until his name will have passed into story 
and song. 

We have assembled on the anniversary of the greatest of his 
battles, to place his bust on the banks of the Mississippi. The 
river itself, with its tributaries, the Tennessee and the Cumber- 
land, are never-dying monuments of his fame — they witnessed his 
battles, sweep by his tomb, and ever murmur his glory in the rush 
of their waters. When he commenced his career, their shores 
were a wilderness — no vessels plowed their bosoms, and they lay 
undisturbed as when created. Upon the day that the gallant 
Carroll and his troops swept by this bluff, on their voyage to 
New Orleans, scarce a house crowned its summit. Could we roll 
back the tide of time and catch a momentary sight of their little 
fleet of boats, what emotions would they awaken ? The men in 
their rude uniform, with their knapsacks on their backs, travers- 
ing the decks; their indomitable commander standing solitary at 
the prow with his eye fixed on the distance, his mind brooding oe r 
the coming fight. But the picture is gone forever; even the 
forests and wild animals that looked out on their passage are 
swept away, and all that remains ; s to erect this monument to 
the pa 






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